Ferment preparations comprising a high activity of digestive enzymes, especially lipase activity, are required for the treatment of the digestive-juice insufficiency in the gastric and intestinal tracts as well as in connection with indigestion. Fresh or deep-frozen pancreas tissue, in particular hog pancreas tissue is employed here as starting material. In order to keep as low as possible the charging of the organism with ineffective components in the preparations, the ferment activity of the products required for the preparation of the medicines should be as high as possible.
German Pat. No. 2,408,379 describes a process of preparing an enzyme preparation rich in lipase, wherein the comminuted pancreas tissue is first subjected to removal of fat with a mixture of 9 parts by volume chloroform and 1 part by volume butanol, whereafter the partly degreased tissue material is autolysed by being left standing at 0.degree. - 4.degree. C for 24-26 hours, then it is further degreased through a treatment with acetone, whereafter the enzyme is extracted with 5% aqueous ethanol solution and, through mixing with acetone, one obtains a precipitate from the extract. After drying, the precipitate represents a preparation comprising a high lipase activity.
According to an older proposal, as described in the German patent application No. P 25 05 887.1, the extract of effective substance obtained through extraction with the aqueous ethanol solution can also be transformed directly into a dry enzyme preparation through lyophilization. Although these substances are better than the previously known lipase preparations in regard to their activity, one must still strive always, both to simplify the process of preparation and also to increase the yield of enzyme from the glandular material and especially the activity of the obtained substances.